Us interactive fiction writers have a unique enemy. A foe capable of tearing apart our stories at the seams, like a vampire that drains all of our carefully-crafted tension and drama. What’s worse, that emotion-sucking monster is inside you and me. The desire to avoid conflict is very human, and when given the choice—even in fiction—we have a tendency to avoid clashing with others. Talk about boring! This article is going to detail what...

This post is the second in my series of addressing major desires. I’m going to explore what it means to be desirable, why many readers are ashamed of it, and why this particular desire sells so many books and invokes so much enthusiasm. I will also try to make note of the differences between the masculine and feminine audience, what their general expectations and preferences are, and how the interactive fiction writer has the...

If there was a secret to finding your tone as a writer, that made your sentences smoother and easier to read—this is it. It’s as simple as speaking what you’ve written down, out loud. I’ve been making use of it for years during the editing process, for sentence length and comma placements. But recently I’ve taken it a step further: I’ve gotten into the habit of “talking it out” while I write. I haven’t...

Wish fulfillment and interactive fiction go hand-in-hand. The correlation is so powerful that if your player does not feel like they are strong (or getting stronger), or if they don’t feel as (or more) attractive and intelligent than the other characters in your story, there will be a serious problem. Player desires shouldn’t just be acknowledged, they should be planned for in advance and part of your story structure. Because satisfying your player is...

Another game, another achievement guide! Like in Book 1, it’s impossible to get them all during a single play-through, so there’s no need to stress over them too much. I made many of these achievements to motivate players to pick less popular choices, as well as rewarding them for paying attention. Warning: spoilers ahead! Here We Go Again At the start of the game, load in a character from Book 1. No Pets Allowed...

Samurai of Hyuga Book 2 has been released! Check out it’s page here! For the newly initiated, this is where I give my post-mortem for the game, though that word doesn’t sound appropriate. Make sure to follow me on twitter @MChoiceStudios for blog updates and release dates! If you’re here from Steam, I want to give you a special shoutout. If you’re like me, you’re a guy and a gamer, and a decade ago...

Samurai of Hyuga Book 2 Update: Book 2 has been released! Follow me on twitter for updates and release dates: Follow @MChoiceStudios No writer of interactive fiction should use the genre as a gimmick to excuse bad writing. Creating smooth and clear prose is not a matter of style, but the result of techniques and fundamentals. Luckily for the amateur writer like myself, there are decades of eternal teachers out there in print. Beware...